Technology Timeline
What follows is a loose system of classification used to determine the approximate level of technological and socio-political advancement for sentient life on Earth and eventually elsewhere in the Universe. The time span from 7 million B.C. up to the present is based on legitimate archaeological discoveries and historical records. Everything after that is based partly on current scientific theories and partly on my own speculations.
The Ages of Technological and Socio-Political Advancement
- Hominid Age (pre-technological age)
7 million BC to 2.6 million BC
[ex. Sahelanthropus Tchadensis, Australopithecus Anamensis]
Hominid Social Organization. Hominids who evolved from primate mammals emerge in Africa around 7 million B.C.. Food gained through gathering plants. Simple tool users. Unorganized Violence common.
- Scavenging Age
2.6 million BC to 600,000 BC
[ex: Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus Africanus, Homo habilis, & Homo Erectus]
Clan (family) social organization. Scavenging Revolution: food gained through scavenging for meat. Simple stone tools made. Fire Discovered. Transportation by foot, and later on, by water. Organized Violence Develops.
- Hunting/Gathering Age
600,000 BC to 10,000 BC
[ex. Homo Erectus & Homo Sapiens]
Village social organization. Horticultural Revolution: food gained through planting small crops and domestication of some animals. Advanced tools in use. More advanced pictorial communication: writing is invented. Transportation is primarily through animal and water. Wheel invented. Organized Warfare Develops. First cities are built (ie. Eridu, Uruk, and Jericho, etc....) For a more detailed History click here. - Horticultural Age
10,000 B.C. to 4000 B.C. [ex. Homo Sapiens Sapiens]
Village social organization. Horticultural Revolution: food gained through planting small crops and domestication of some animals. Advanced tools in use. More advanced pictorial communication: writing is invented. Transportation is primarily through animal and water. Wheel invented. Organized Warfare Develops. First cities are built (ie. Eridu, Uruk, and Jericho, etc....) For a more detailed History click here.
- Agrarian Age
4000 B.C. to 1700 A.D.
City and Regional social organization (city states control vast areas - ie. Ur, Babylon, Sparta, Athens, Carthage, Rome, Constantinople, and Baghdad, etc..). Agrarian Revolution: food gained through planting large crops using the plough and breeding livestock. Small scale manufactured goods. Parchment is first used, making writing common: used for keeping records, business transactions, religious documents, etc.; Machines are invented. Transportation through animal, water, and/or wind-powered means. For a more detailed history click here. Greek Dark Age (1100 to 750 B.C.). Major religions emerge: Sabeanism, Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism (modern Parsee in India), Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shinto, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism. Roman Empire established (27 BC). Gunpowder invented. European Dark Age (400 to 1500 AD). Mercenary Armies and Navies established. Organized Warfare becomes common. Era of European Discovery and Colonization (1500 AD to 1900 AD). First nation-states are established (ie. China, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, France, England, and Russia) in the later part of the Agrarian age
- Industrial Age
1700 A.D. to 1960 A.D.
National social organization (nation states - ie. United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, India, Brazil, etc...). Industrial Revolution: mass production using factories create new occupations. Standing Armies and Navies (and later, Air Forces) are Developed. Electricity is in use. Simple mechanized vehicles. In 1773, the first Stock Market is created in Britain. In 1787, the United States of America is formed. Mass produced text and communication using the telegraph (1844) (and later the telephone) is in use. New Christian religious sects emerge in the west: Jehovah's Witness, Seventh Day Adventist, and Mormonism (Later Day Saints). The Bahá'í Faith emerges out of 19th century Shi'ah Persia. Newspapers are common. Radio and Television is invented. World War I (1914-1918). The United Nations is established after World War II (1939-1945) ends; Nuclear weapons are developed in 1945 thereby beginning the Cold War between the East (Soviet Union and allies) and West (United States and allies). In 1946 the Electronic Computer (ENIAC) is invented. In 1947 A.D.,
An example of an aircraft carrier (USS Independence) of the late 20th century.
UFO phenomena begins after Roswell Incident shows flying saucers on Earth and captured Alien bodies (Greys). In 1957 A.D. first satellite (Sputnik 1) is launched into Earth Orbit. For a more detailed history click here.
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Information Age
1960 A.D. to 2030 A.D. (Present Age)
International social organization (ie. - United Nations, European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, World Trade Organization, World Bank, and other international organizations). Information Revolution: service-oriented and computer-based occupations. In 1969 AD Earth first landed on its moon, Luna. Petroleum for fuel is in use. Nuclear Fission power plants are in use. Mass production becomes more efficient, giving rise to advances in alloys and plastics: "High-tech" industries. Computers become common. Primitive space travel via chemical rocket technology (liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel).
An example of an late 20th century space shuttle (USS Discovery)
An example of a satellite of the late 20th century.
Mass transportation and communication (Radio is transmitted at the speed of light so 1 c=speed of light or 300,000 km/s). For more information on Special relativity click here. Television is common. Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" is written. Click here for a preview of some of Hawking's ideas
Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, and Cyber War are developed. In 1989 the Cold War ends; the Soviet Union is dissolved in 1991. First extra-solar planets discovered. In 2003, the potential for complete recording and summation of daily financial dealings began to be realized. In 1995 the World Trade Organization is founded.
2009
A $1,000 personal computer can perform about a trillion calculations per second. Personal computers with high-resolution visual displays come in a range of sizes, from those small enough to be embedded in clothing and jewellery up to the size of a thin book.
Cables are disappearing. Communication between components uses short-distance wireless technology. High-speed wireless communication provides access to the Web.
The majority of text is created using continuous speech recognition. Also ubiquitous are language user interfaces (LUIs).
Most routine business transactions (purchases, travel, reservations) take place between a human and a virtual personality. Often, the virtual personality includes an animated visual presence that looks like a human face.
Although traditional classroom organization is still common, intelligent courseware has emerged as a common means of learning.
Pocket-sized reading machines for the blind and visually impaired, "listening machines" (speech-to-text conversion) for the deaf, and computer- controlled orthotic devices for paraplegic individuals result in a growing perception that primary disabilities do not necessarily impart handicaps.
Translating telephones (speech-to-speech language translation) are commonly used for many language pairs.
Accelerating returns from the advance of computer technology have resulted in continued economic expansion. Price deflation, which had been a reality in the computer field during the twentieth century, is now occurring outside the computer field. The reason for this is that virtually all economic sectors are deeply affected by the accelerating improvement in the price performance of computing.
Human musicians routinely jam with cybernetic musicians.
Bioengineered treatments for cancer and heart disease have greatly reduced the mortality from these diseases.
The neo-Luddite movement is growing.
2019
A $1,000 computing device (in 1999 dollars) is now approximately equal to the computational ability of the human brain. Computers are now largely invisible and are embedded everywhere-in walls, tables, chairs, desks, clothing, jewellery, and bodies.
Three-dimensional virtual reality displays, embedded in glasses and contact lenses, as well as auditory "lenses," are used routinely as primary interfaces for communication with other persons, computers, the Web, and virtual reality.
Most interaction with computing is through gestures and two-way natural-language spoken communication.
Nanoengineered machines are beginning to be applied to manufacturing and process-control applications.
High-resolution, three-dimensional visual and auditory virtual reality and realistic all-encompassing tactile environments enable people to do virtually anything with anybody, regardless of physical proximity.
Paper books or documents are rarely used and most learning is conducted through intelligent, simulated software-based teachers.
Blind persons routinely use eyeglass-mounted reading-navigation systems. Deaf persons read what other people are saying through their lens displays. Paraplegic and some quadriplegic persons routinely walk and climb stairs through a combination of computer-controlled nerve stimulation and exoskeletal robotic devices.
The vast majority of transactions include a simulated person.
Automated driving systems are now installed in most roads.
People are beginning to have relationships with automated personalities and use them as companions, teachers, caretakers, and lovers.
Virtual artists, with their own reputations, are emerging in all of the arts.
There are widespread reports of computers passing the Turing Test, although these tests do not meet the criteria established by knowledgeable observers.
2029
A $1,000 (in 1999 dollars) unit of computation has the computing capacity of approximately 1,000 human brains. Permanent or removable implants (similar to contact lenses) for the eyes as well as cochlear implants are now used to provide input and output between the human user and the worldwide computing network.
Direct neural pathways have been perfected for high-bandwidth connection to the human brain. A range of neural implants is becoming available to enhance visual and auditory perception and interpretation, memory, and reasoning.
Automated agents are now learning on their own, and significant knowledge is being created by machines with little or no human intervention. Computers have read all available human- and machine-generated literature and multimedia material.
There is widespread use of all-encompassing visual, auditory, and tactile communication using direct neural connections, allowing virtual reality to take place without having to be in a "total touch enclosure."
The majority of communication does not involve a human. The majority of communication involving
There is almost no human employment in production, agriculture, or transportation. Basic life needs are available for the vast majority of the human race.
There is a growing discussion about the legal rights of computers and what constitutes being "human."
Although computers routinely pass apparently valid forms of the Turing Test, controversy persists about whether or not machine intelligence equals human intelligence in all of its diversity.
Machines claim to be conscious. See Artificial Intelligence. These claims are largely accepted.
2049
The common use of nanoproduced food, which has the correct nutritional composition and the same taste and texture of organically produced food, means that the availability of food is no longer affected by limited resources, bad crop weather, or spoilage. Nanobot swarm projections are used to create visual-auditory-tactile projections of people and objects in real reality.
By 2037 A.D. the European Union (EU) became a loose confederation of states with a common political & economic system. For a more detailed history click here.
An example of a commercial orbital spacecraft (Orion) of the early 21st century.
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Nanotechnology Age
2030 A.D. to 2300 A.D. Global social organization (World Confederation) and Continental social organization (European Union, North American Union, Arab Union, East Asian Union, South-East Asian Union, South Asian Union, African Union, Central Asian Union, Pacific Union, and South American Union). Nanotechnology Revolution: creation of self-replicating atom-sized machines thereby revolutionizing the agricultural, industrial, information, and service industries; cybernetic technology developed (brain implants which allow transmission of information from person to person) and organic technology (living machines) developed. Nuclear fusion, and solar power are in use.
Enterprise traveling to Mars
Forcefield Technology developed. Interplanetary space travel is developed in 21st century due to low cost Solar Sail Propulsion, Ion Propulsion, and Nanotechnology-based orbital space manufacturing.
An example of a mid 21st century explorer ship (Discovery) using ion propulsion.
In 2088, New Alexandria, the first permanent Mars Colony is established and a monument to Carl Sagan is erected in the centre of the colony. By 2130 Spacecraft with rotational centrifuges are employed traveling at sublight speeds (by 2130 it would take 53 days to travel to Mars and 150 days to travel to Jupiter using Fusion Propulsion with a 10kw/kg payload ratio). Colonies on various in-system worlds such as Europa, Io, Venus, and Titan were established in the late 21st and early 22nd centuries.
Tachyon-based communication allows almost instant communications over interplanetary distances (at 100 c). Common Global language and script developed (Terran). Common weights and measures is established: Metric System (System Internationale). Artificial Intelligence systems become common. Holovision becomes common. Holo-rooms are invented. Nano-based and Space-based Warfare are developed. In 2045 A.D. the United Nations Confederation is established taking control of global security (peacekeeper force), overseeing shipping/mining/development/colonization of new areas (land, sea, and space), environmental stabilization/reconstruction, and overseeing the world economy. The oceans, Antarctica, and Luna become International territory under the jurisdiction of the World Confederation. By 2075 A.D. all organized warfare (international and civil wars) ceases to exist due to enforcement by the United Nations Confederation. In 2095 A.D. the World Union is established becoming the final political/judicial authority on Earth.
In 2207, artificial gravity is invented: allowing residents of space habitats and passengers on spacecraft to have an Earth-like gravity. By 2300, a planetary matrix develops on Earth (Terran Union) linking Earth, Luna, and it's colonies into an single interconnected network or matrix. By 2300 AD, all unorganized warfare (border skirmishes, rebellions, uprisings, etc...) ceases to exist. Mars did establish it's own independent government (in 2649 AD which lasted for approx. 500 years)
Terran Union flag of the 24 century
An example of a deep space mining ship (Leonov) of the early 22nd century using fusion propulsion.
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Quantum Age
2300 A.D. to 15,000 A.D.
Stellar Social Organization (Stellar Matrices: interconnected planets and moons all functioning together in one Star System - ie. Sol Matrix (est. 3212 AD), Alpha Centauri Matrix, Vega Matrix, and Tau Ceti Matrix, etc...). Type I civilization* (ability to harness the power of a planet).
* Star faring civilizations may be classified according to the scale of energies they command, in a ranking termed as Karadashev levels or types I, II, and III.
A type I civilization is able to utilize the power output of an entire planet. A type II, an entire star, type III, an entire galaxy. One estimate is that humanity itself may reach Type III status around one million AD (if it doesn't destroy itself in the meantime). As of 2000 AD humanity was estimated to rate 0.7 on the Karadashev scale, in terms of interstellar transmission capacities alone.
Quantum Revolution: Creation of matter and energy from quantum dynamics: replication technology. Highly efficient nanotech-industries used for energy prohibitive items; Cyber-organic technology becomes common: development of Starships. Jumpgate technology is discovered allowing interstellar travel (100 c using Tachyon drives). The first interstellar colony that was founded was Proxima 3 Colony in 2464 A.D, followed by her sister world Alpha II colony in 2489 A.D. Magneto-Gravitic technology becomes common: artificial gravity and propulsion. Memory can be transferred from person to person. In 3130 A.D. first contact is made with an Alien civilization (the Vaq'lar). Interactive Holo-rooms are common.
An example of the type of interstellar ship (Voyager) of the 24th century using antimatter propulsion. General trade is conducted with various Alien Civilizations. Hyperspace Communication Developed (10,000 times the speed of light). By 5000 A.D. all organized violence (piracy, gangs etc...) ceases to exist.
An example of the interstellar organic starships (White Star class) of the 4th millennium A.D. using magneto-gravitic propulsion.
- Creative/Artistic Age
15,000 A.D. to 300,000 A.D. [ex. Vaq'lar and Neohumans]
Galactic Social Organization: (Galactic Matrices: interconnected star systems all functioning together in one Galaxy - ie. Milky Way Matrix, Andromeda Matrix, and Large Magellenic Matrix, etc...). Type II civilization* (ability to harness the power of a star). Creative/Artistic Revolution: society engages in creative/artistic pursuits as primary occupation: return to nature and art. By 10,000 A.D. Empathic ability develops: the ability to read the emotions of others. By 30,000 A.D. all unorganized violence (homicide & suicide) ceases to exist. Entry/exit to Hyperspace accomplished through advanced means: dimensional phasing/hyperflux (10,000 c). Subspace Communication developed (1,000,000 c). Ability to transfer 'soul' from one body to another: creation of artificial bodies - see Greg Bear's novel "Eon" for more information. Planetary-scale device construction possible (Dysan Spheres and other Megascale Engineering). Empathic ability develops: the ability to feel the emotions of others. By 100,000 A.D., Empathic ability is common and Psychic ability begins to develop: the ability to read the thoughts of others.
- PSI Age
300,000 A.D. to 3 million A.D. [ex. Posthumans]
Intergalactic Social Organization: Single Transgalactic Consciousness develops. Type III civilization* (ability to harness the power of a galaxy). PSI Revolution: Society/Consciousness engages in psychic pursuits as primary occupation. Temporal Research leads to ability to view the past. The manipulation of stars possible. Wormhole Communication develops with ability to communicate instantly anywhere in the universe. Subspace Conduits are constructed (1,000,000 c) enabling fast travel across the galaxy. Psychic ability is common and Telekinetic ability begins to develop: the ability to move objects with one's mind.
- Temporal Age
3 million A.D. to 300 million A.D.
Universal/Cosmic Social Organization: Cosmic Consciousness. Temporal Revolution: Manipulation of the time stream possible. Wormhole Transportation developed allowing instant travel anywhere in the universe. Extradimensional Communication is developed. Telekinetic Ability is common. Superbeings begin to evolve existing as pure energy.
An example of wormhole transportation of 10 million years A.D.
- Ascendant Age
300 million A.D. to 3 billion A.D.
Interdimensional Social Organization: Q Continuum. Superbeings, almost god-like in intelligence and power. All, in part or in whole, are extradimensional in nature. No barrier bars their passage in either space or time (at least in this Multiverse).
